Jay Stratton Fox News Interview: What He Said About UAPs

Few people have run the government’s UAP investigations from the inside, and fewer still have gone on a national news broadcast to describe them. On October 12, 2026, Jay Stratton, the former official who led the U.S. government’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, sat down with Bret Baier on Fox News. The timing was no accident: his memoir, Out of the Shadows, went on sale the next day. This article separates what the broadcast and its coverage actually establish from what is still only claimed.

A note on sourcing: we could not obtain a full written transcript of the segment. We rely on Fox News’ own description of the clip, on posts quoting the interview, and on reporting about the book. Where something comes only from social media commenters, we label it that way. Featured image: screenshot from the Fox News broadcast, courtesy of Fox News.

What Stratton said on Special Report

The segment ran on the October 12 edition of Special Report, and Fox posted an 11:35 clip titled “Ex-Intelligence official details government investigations into UAPs.” Fox describes Stratton as a retired Defense Intelligence senior executive who spent more than 16 years working on the government’s UAP effort. According to Fox’s summary, he discussed:

• military encounters with black triangle aircraft;
• potential national security risks tied to the phenomenon;
• why the U.S. military used nuclear submarines as bait to track these anomalies.

The most widely shared lines came from a post by the account UAP James on X, which quoted Stratton telling Baier that the U.S. government has “craft of non-human origin.” The post also quotes him on the existence of a program: “There is an ongoing program to capture and reverse-engineer this technology,” and says the people who have held an “80-year monopoly” on the topic “believe the secret is so intense that the American people cannot handle it.” The post had been viewed more than 100,000 times within hours. We could not match each quote to a timestamp in the video, so watch the full Fox clip for his exact wording and context.

What is not confirmed

As the clip spread, viewers added their own summaries. Several commenters on a UFO Feed discussion thread wrote that Stratton said he personally saw craft and non-human bodies, and one wrote that he mentioned cases over military bases that have never been discussed. Fox’s published description does not include those points, and we have not verified them against the video. Coverage of his earlier public statements attributes similar claims to him, so it is plausible he repeated them, but we could not confirm that from Fox’s own description. Treat them as unconfirmed until the full segment or the book confirms them.

It also helps to be clear about what the segment did not contain, based on Fox’s description: no document, photograph, video or physical evidence of a recovered craft was presented, and no government agency has publicly confirmed a recovery and reverse-engineering program. Stratton’s claims are testimony from a former official, which is meaningful but is not the same as evidence.

Who is Jay Stratton

Stratton is described by The Debrief as the former official who led the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), the Pentagon effort that preceded today’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office. He is also one of the voices in the broader disclosure conversation alongside figures such as David Grusch, who has made similar claims about crash retrieval programs, also without public documents. For his full career, see our Jay Stratton profile and our page on the UAP Task Force.

Stratton in The Age of Disclosure

Stratton was one of the voices in The Age of Disclosure, the documentary directed by Dan Farah that gathered 34 current and former senior U.S. government, military and intelligence officials, according to The Debrief. Fox News identified him in its coverage as a former Defense Intelligence Agency official and director of the government’s UAP Task Force. In the film’s trailer he warned that whichever country first cracks the technology will lead for years to come, which already contains the security-race framing he returned to on Special Report.

Coverage of the film and of his later interviews also attributes to him the claim that he has seen non-human craft and beings. We could not match the exact wording to a primary transcript, so we treat it as reported rather than verified. It is also worth knowing that Farah later acquired the rights to develop Stratton’s memoir for television, so the film and the book are connected projects, which is a reason to read each with the other in mind.

Why Stratton’s testimony matters

Most claims in this field come from anonymous sources, witnesses with no official role, or people repeating what others told them. Stratton is different in one respect that is easy to overlook: he is a named person who held the job. He led the UAP Task Force, the office whose work fed the 2021 preliminary assessment delivered to Congress, and Fox describes more than 16 years of work on the subject. That does not make every claim true. It does mean his account is a first-hand description of how the government handled these cases, from someone who can be asked follow-up questions, who has a reputation to protect, and who is now on the record on a national network.

In our view, this is one of the most important UAP interviews since journalist Ross Coulthart interviewed David Grusch on NewsNation in 2023. That interview brought a named insider’s claims to a mainstream audience for the first time, and Stratton’s appearance on Fox News does something similar from a different seat: the person who ran the task force, speaking on one of the most-watched news programs in the country.

It also matters because of the pattern. When a former task force leader, a documentary featuring more than thirty officials, and other insiders such as David Grusch describe the same broad picture, the question for the public changes. It stops being whether anyone credible is saying this and becomes what documents, hearings and records can confirm it. That is a better question, and Stratton’s record makes it harder to dismiss. Our profile of Jay Stratton lays out his career in detail.

Why a public congressional hearing with Stratton would matter

It would be ideal if Jay Stratton testified in a public congressional hearing. That has not happened yet, as far as we could find, and it would be very important for the disclosure movement if it did. So far he has spoken in a documentary, on television, in interviews and now in a book. Those carry influence, but they do not carry the legal weight of a hearing. Knowingly lying to Congress under oath is perjury, and knowingly lying to Congress without an oath can also be a federal crime, which is why a hearing record is treated differently from an interview.

In our view, three things would change if he testified. First, lawmakers could ask specific follow-up questions about his central claim: where the alleged program sits, who authorized it, and which committees were briefed. Second, a hearing can lead to document requests, subpoenas and closed sessions on classified details that he cannot discuss in a book or on television. Third, it would be a different kind of evidence from what the public has seen so far. David Grusch testified under oath before the House Oversight Committee in July 2023, but his account rested largely on what other witnesses told him. A sworn account from the person who ran the task force, and who says he saw the evidence himself, would be a first-hand statement on the record.

A hearing would not prove the claims true, and Stratton may be limited by classification rules and secrecy agreements. But a public, sworn appearance by the former head of the task force would be one of the biggest moments the disclosure movement has had since 2023. It would turn a media story into something Congress can act on, and that is the step the disclosure debate still needs. We will report on it here if it happens.

A threat lens worth questioning

Here we offer our own view, and we mean it generously. Fox’s summary says Stratton discussed potential national security risks, and that the military used nuclear submarines as bait to track anomalies. A career in military intelligence trains you to ask one question first: could this unknown thing harm us? It is the right question for someone responsible for protecting forces, bases and airspace, and it is easy to see why a former Defense Intelligence executive would answer through that lens. His field also shapes what counts as evidence: sensor tracks, encounters near sensitive sites, and capabilities that a rival might acquire.

The weakness of that lens is that it can decide the answer before the questions are asked. Treating an unknown phenomenon as a security problem points toward secrecy, capture and reverse engineering, which are the very activities he says are ongoing. Based on Fox’s description, the segment did not present evidence of hostile intent, and we are not aware of public evidence that it exists. The absence of evidence is not proof of harmlessness, but a risk assessment is not a finding of danger either. Other traditions read the same phenomenon differently, for example as a form of contact or as an intelligence that is not aimed at us at all. Our piece on the superspectrum hypothesis explores one such alternative. We think the honest position is that a threat framing is a reasonable starting hypothesis for a security professional, and an unproven conclusion for the rest of us.

The book and the screen adaptation

Out of the Shadows: Revealing the Truth About Non-Human Intelligent Life was published by William Morrow on October 13, 2026. According to The Debrief, the book recounts his involvement with official UAP investigations and the bureaucratic hurdles he met, and it describes how his family reportedly experienced unusual events while he served. The publisher’s own synopsis presents the existence of a long-hidden program as the book’s central claim. That is the book’s account, not an established finding.

We will also publish our own review of Out of the Shadows on this site soon, so check back or join our newsletter below to be notified when it goes live.

Screenwriter Terence Winter and producer Dan Farah are developing a television series based on the memoir, reports The Debrief, citing Variety. Farah directed the documentary The Age of Disclosure. The deal is relevant for readers weighing the claims: it means the story now has a commercial life, which does not make it untrue, but is a reason to read it with care.

How to read the claims

There are two reasonable ways to see this interview, and our readers are split on it, so we added a poll.

The case for taking it seriously. Stratton held a senior government role, his account is on the record on a national network, and it adds to a pattern of former officials describing the same alleged retrieval and reverse-engineering effort. The Pentagon’s PURSUE file releases and a recent pathway for insiders to disclose information show that the official posture is shifting.

The case for caution. The claims arrive on the day of a book launch, the segment as described offers no documents, and many online summaries go further than Fox’s own description. Online skeptics were quick to say the interview exists to sell the book. A claim can be sincere and still need independent evidence, which is what the next steps in disclosure should supply: documents, hearings and testimony under oath.

What this means for disclosure

The interview matters less for any single quote than for where it was said. A former UAP task force leader repeating a claim of non-human craft on a mainstream news program, a day before a major publisher released his book, moves the topic further into the center of public debate. Whether it moves the government is a separate question. To follow the factors that do carry official weight, watch the Disclosure Clock below.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Jay Stratton?

Jay Stratton is a retired Defense Intelligence senior executive who led the government’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. He is the author of the memoir Out of the Shadows, published October 13, 2026.

What did Jay Stratton say on Fox News?

According to Fox News’ description, he discussed military encounters with black triangle aircraft, national security risks, and why the military used nuclear submarines as bait to track anomalies. A post quoting the interview says he told Bret Baier the U.S. government has craft of non-human origin and an ongoing program to reverse-engineer them.

Did Jay Stratton show evidence of non-human craft?

Based on Fox’s description of the clip, no documents or physical evidence were presented. His statements are testimony from a former official.

Has Jay Stratton testified before Congress?

Not yet. We found no record of Stratton giving sworn public testimony before Congress. A public hearing would be very important for the disclosure movement, because sworn testimony carries legal penalties for false statements and lets lawmakers question him directly about his claims.

Was Jay Stratton in The Age of Disclosure?

Yes. Fox News identified him in its coverage of the documentary as a former Defense Intelligence Agency official and director of the UAP Task Force, and he appears in the film’s trailer.

Does Jay Stratton say UAP are a threat?

According to Fox’s description, he discussed potential national security risks tied to the phenomenon. As a former military intelligence professional, that framing is understandable, but the segment as described did not present evidence of hostile intent.

What is Jay Stratton’s book about?

Out of the Shadows: Revealing the Truth About Non-Human Intelligent Life, published by William Morrow, recounts his years investigating UAP for the government and the personal impact on his family. A television series based on it is in development.

When did the Jay Stratton interview air?

It aired on Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier on October 12, 2026, and Fox posted an 11-minute clip of it.

Want to judge Stratton’s account for yourself? Get Out of the Shadows on Amazon (affiliate link: we earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no cost to you).

Sources for this article

• Fox News: Ex-Intelligence official details government investigations into UAPs
• UAP James on X, October 12 post quoting the interview
• UFO Feed discussion of the Special Report segment
• The Debrief: Story of Former Pentagon Official Who Led U.S. Government’s UAP Investigations Is Coming to Television

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